Topic: Castlevania "borrowing from" (ripping off) other franchises.

[AlexCalvo]

Given the pastiche horror nature of the series let's exclude the obvious monsters like Drcula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man.  But what other franchises have you noticed Castlevania try to emulate?

There is the dead pan obvious Conan situation, where the makers of Cv1 didn't even really try to hid on the cover.  The less obvious, but still obvious Harry Potter-ness of Charlotte.  And any Dr. Who fans must have at least raised an eye brow whenever Saint Germaine appeared.  Any others you guys can think of?

[Dracula9]

Does Zacchino from PoR being a dead ringer to Henry VIII count?

[Jazz Paladin Productions]

The whip-swing from cv iv seems to evoke an Indiana Jones type of feel...

In general, there are some parts of castlevania iv that mildly feel like splatterhouse to me terms of design...

The control scheme of SOTN was perfect, but the inclusion of Street Fighter type special moves...perfect! Even though everyone uses quarter circle forward motions now...

Wizard of Oz in SOTN....Scarecrow, Tin man, Lion...

[The Puritan]

-Rondo of Blood came during the fighting game boom, so Richter was very Ryu-esque. His unused low-kick and hurricane kick frames suggest that too, and maybe even the bonus 1-Up for getting a perfect boss fight.

-Stella and Loretta seemed to evoke Rozen Maiden with their mismatched eyes.

-Jojo's references in DOS (Zephyr) and KOF and Fist of the North Star in OOE

-LOI in general was their attempt to make a CV that was like DMC

[zangetsu468]

I don't know about anyone else, this is an obscure one at the lighthouse stage in OoE, Rhapsody of the Forsaken sounds very Mega Man X to me. It still has that gothic'ish undertone but it's very "hype" to me and makes me want to wall jump to acquire hadoken.

The fact Richter got an uppercut (superjump) in SotN is even more Ryu. Again in PoR he has a hurricane kick.

Blackmoore's shadow always looked like Ganon to me.

Is Albus a reference to Harry Potter too?



This guy looks like Cracker-Jack from Street Fighter EX, mixed with Q from 3rd Strike and dare I say the undertaker from WWF.

Some say CV has borrowed from Rygar but I've never played it myself.
However https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPuqr_aZZC8 at 1:03 I picked up a very obscure detail. Some of the rooms in CotM which are blocked off by statues and need to be unlocked looks oddly similar to these ones in the original Rygar. Not to mention the main character uses a chain whip of sorts.

[Aceearly1993]

Geese's Reppu Ken/Raging Storm - Wind Glyph skills in OoE (It can even combine two normal attacks rapidly and the two wind slashes mixed together just like Double Reppu Ken)


Rugal's Genocide Cutter - a round kick used by OoE Dracula during the 2nd phase but Dracula's is a downward round kick

[zangetsu468]

Geese's Reppu Ken/Raging Storm - Wind Glyph skills in OoE (It can even combine two normal attacks rapidly and the two wind slashes mixed together just like Double Reppu Ken)


Rugal's Genocide Cutter - a round kick used by OoE Dracula during the 2nd phase but Dracula's is a downward round kick

Completely agree. 2nd phase Drac even kind of reminds me of Rugal.

[Shiroi Koumori]

That "Kamen Rider" Kicker Skeleton

[Dracula9]

This guy looks like Cracker-Jack from Street Fighter EX, mixed with Q from 3rd Strike and dare I say the undertaker from WWF.
Yeah, OoE's Grave Digger is a 'Taker reference--the outfit and physical build fit Undertaker in his prime, and Gravedigger was one of his nicknames.

Also, I don't believe Albus to be a Harry Potter reference, since the name Albus predates the novels.

[Crying Freeman]

In general, there are some parts of castlevania iv that mildly feel like splatterhouse to me terms of design...

I can definitely see that, especially in the castle stages, such as the tables and coffin enemies, the ghost dancers seem like something in Splatterhouse, and stage 8 could've been a Splatterhouse stage of made a little more gruesome. And more cinematic parts like Drac's buildup are very Splatterhouse

The Adventure- Lose power ups after taking damage, similar to Mario games, Belmont's Revenge- Megaman like stage select, Legends- take and store boss power ups after defeating them, for use whenever player sees fit, like Megaman again.

I've been getting into old horror magazines from the 70s lately, and a ton of them evoke so much CV, like a lot of these:
http://www.gwthomas.org/ssrgcomics1972.htm

Especially the Dax and Daggar ones (one of the Daggar ones he's using a chain whip lol, and one of the Dax ones has Drac, Wolfman, Mummy, and warrior hero Dax front and center while a castle sits in the background)

[Jeepy]

In many CV games (Akumajou Densetsu, Dracula XX, etc), the castle design is inspired by Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

[JR]

This guy looks like Cracker-Jack from Street Fighter EX, mixed with Q from 3rd Strike and dare I say the undertaker from WWF.

Hah, never noticed this...definitely reminds me of old-school Undertaker. Maybe I didn't catch it because that guy has sleeves? 

Rugal's Genocide Cutter - a round kick used by OoE Dracula during the 2nd phase but Dracula's is a downward round kick

Whoa, that's...awesome. Loved Rugal. Brb, running off to play OoE again

[Shinobi]

Death's second form in Harmony od Dissonance is a shameless copy of Stage 1 boss from Strider Hiryu

[zangetsu468]

Death's second form in Harmony od Dissonance is a shameless copy of Stage 1 boss from Strider Hiryu

You mean his second form is a copy of SOTN Death's second form which is a copy of the boss from Strider.

[Gaawa-chan]

Quite a few weapons in the series reference Tolkien's LotR works.  The Crissaegrim is probably the one best known for that.